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Hayward froze.
“What?”
“He’s still alive. It was close, but he’s alive. We just said he was dead, so nobody would try again.” Rafe shrugged. “A bluff, so to speak.”
“You’re lying.”
“Go back to the house and see for yourself. He was sitting up and eating breakfast when I saw him this morning.”
Hayward looked like he was trying to disbelieve it. He shook his head.
“No. That can’t be right.”
“Asante is going to be talking about how you got him to shoot a fellow soldier, and it’s going to be tied to you. There is enough to prove that it’s you who killed Richard and framed me for it.”
“After all this time, nobody’s going to believe it.”
“They will once I tell the magistrate about this conversation.”
“This conversation?” Hayward laughed. “What makes you think you’ll be walking away from this alive?”
“You wouldn’t get away with this. Too many people know about what you did.”
“I don’t believe you. They’ll just see someone who is angry that you’ve come back doing everyone a favour and getting rid of you.” The rifle was now pointed at Rafe’s face. “I’ll be honoured to carry out that favour.”
***
Victoria could hear the voices up ahead, and she recognised Gregory and Rafe. She almost started calling out to them, but Mayfield waved her sharply into silence. Putting a finger to his lips, he urged her to follow him.
They were moving far too slowly. Victoria wanted to run and find her husband. She just couldn’t sit back and let this happen. But she followed Mayfield’s instructions and almost tiptoed after him. If Rafe was talking, it meant he was still alive. Gregory hadn’t hurt him yet. But that wouldn’t last long.
She heard Gregory laugh.
“What makes you think you’ll be walking away from this alive?”
“You wouldn’t get away with this.” Victoria could tell that Rafe’s voice was shaking. “Too many people know about what you did.”
“I don’t believe you. They’ll just see someone who is angry that you’ve come back doing everyone a favour and getting rid of you. I’ll be honoured to carry out that favour.”
Victoria’s heart leapt into her mouth. No, this couldn’t happen. Mayfield made a signal to her to get down as he went onto one knee. Through a gap in the trees, they could see the two men. Hayward had his back to them, and Victoria could just see Rafe. Did he have blood on his face? Mayfield raised his rifle and aimed at Hayward. Could he actually make the shot from this distance?
“And what do you think is going to happen after that?” Rafe demanded. “You think Victoria is going to declare her undying love for you and marry you because you’ve always been there?”
“I know she’ll marry me. I’ll make sure of it. Within a few months, she’ll have forgotten about the horrible time she was forced to marry her brother’s killer.” Hayward sounded very smug. “She and I can have our happiness, our future, while you rot in a grave where nobody will miss you.”
Victoria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Gregory intended to marry her? He had to be insane to think that would happen. She would never marry him.
“You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?” She saw Rafe tense. “You think you’re going to get away with it.”
“I know I’ll get away with it. Nobody’s going to look at me for this.” A little laugh that sounded inhuman came from Gregory. “If I’d known you would have caused so much trouble this many years later, I would have killed you, too. I’m so looking forward to this.”
Victoria let out a scream when there was a loud bang near her ears. A second later, there was another scream, and Gregory was on the ground. He seemed to be writhing while he screamed in agony. Rafe had disappeared.
Oh, God. He hadn’t been….
Scrambling to her feet, Victoria ran into the clearing. Gregory was on the ground, clutching at his knee. Blood seeped through his fingers, and he seemed to have lost all the colour in his face. He looked up as she came into the clearing, his eyes showing his confusion.
“Victoria? What…what…?”
